Overcoming Short-Circuit in Lead-Free CH3NH3SnI3 Perovskite Solar Cells via Kinetically Controlled Gas-Solid Reaction Film Fabrication Process

Takamichi Yokoyama; Duyen H. Cao; Constantinos C. Stoumpos; Tze Bin Song; Yoshiharu Sato; Shinji Aramaki; Mercouri G. Kanatzidis

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b00118

Overcoming Short-Circuit in Lead-Free CH₃NH₃SnI₃ Perovskite Solar Cells via Kinetically Controlled Gas-Solid Reaction Film Fabrication Process

Takamichi Yokoyama, Duyen H. Cao, Constantinos C. Stoumpos, Tze Bin Song, Yoshiharu Sato, Shinji Aramaki, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

313 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of Sn-based perovskite solar cells has been challenging because devices often show short-circuit behavior due to poor morphologies and undesired electrical properties of the thin films. A low-temperature vapor-assisted solution process (LT-VASP) has been employed as a novel kinetically controlled gas-solid reaction film fabrication method to prepare lead-free CH₃NH₃SnI₃ thin films. We show that the solid SnI₂ substrate temperature is the key parameter in achieving perovskite films with high surface coverage and excellent uniformity. The resulting high-quality CH₃NH₃SnI₃ films allow the successful fabrication of solar cells with drastically improved reproducibility, reaching an efficiency of 1.86%. Furthermore, our Kelvin probe studies show the VASP films have a doping level lower than that of films prepared from the conventional one-step method, effectively lowering the film conductivity. Above all, with (LT)-VASP, the short-circuit behavior often obtained from the conventional one-step-fabricated Sn-based perovskite devices has been overcome. This study facilitates the path to more successful Sn-perovskite photovoltaic research.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	776-782
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume	7
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b00118
State	Published - Mar 3 2016

Funding

D.H.C. acknowledges support from the Link Foundation through the Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Program. This work was supported in part by the ANSER Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award DE-SC0001059. This work made use of the EPIC facility (NUANCE Center-Northwestern University), which has received support from the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center, and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (EEC-0118025/003), both programs of the National Science Foundation; the State of Illinois; and Northwestern University.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b00118

Cite this

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title = "Overcoming Short-Circuit in Lead-Free CH3NH3SnI3 Perovskite Solar Cells via Kinetically Controlled Gas-Solid Reaction Film Fabrication Process",

abstract = "The development of Sn-based perovskite solar cells has been challenging because devices often show short-circuit behavior due to poor morphologies and undesired electrical properties of the thin films. A low-temperature vapor-assisted solution process (LT-VASP) has been employed as a novel kinetically controlled gas-solid reaction film fabrication method to prepare lead-free CH3NH3SnI3 thin films. We show that the solid SnI2 substrate temperature is the key parameter in achieving perovskite films with high surface coverage and excellent uniformity. The resulting high-quality CH3NH3SnI3 films allow the successful fabrication of solar cells with drastically improved reproducibility, reaching an efficiency of 1.86%. Furthermore, our Kelvin probe studies show the VASP films have a doping level lower than that of films prepared from the conventional one-step method, effectively lowering the film conductivity. Above all, with (LT)-VASP, the short-circuit behavior often obtained from the conventional one-step-fabricated Sn-based perovskite devices has been overcome. This study facilitates the path to more successful Sn-perovskite photovoltaic research.",

author = "Takamichi Yokoyama and Cao, {Duyen H.} and Stoumpos, {Constantinos C.} and Song, {Tze Bin} and Yoshiharu Sato and Shinji Aramaki and Kanatzidis, {Mercouri G.}",

note = "Funding Information: D.H.C. acknowledges support from the Link Foundation through the Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Program. This work was supported in part by the ANSER Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award DE-SC0001059. This work made use of the EPIC facility (NUANCE Center-Northwestern University), which has received support from the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center, and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (EEC-0118025/003), both programs of the National Science Foundation; the State of Illinois; and Northwestern University. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 American Chemical Society.",

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AU - Stoumpos, Constantinos C.

AU - Song, Tze Bin

AU - Sato, Yoshiharu

AU - Aramaki, Shinji

AU - Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.

N1 - Funding Information: D.H.C. acknowledges support from the Link Foundation through the Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Program. This work was supported in part by the ANSER Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award DE-SC0001059. This work made use of the EPIC facility (NUANCE Center-Northwestern University), which has received support from the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center, and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (EEC-0118025/003), both programs of the National Science Foundation; the State of Illinois; and Northwestern University. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 American Chemical Society.

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N2 - The development of Sn-based perovskite solar cells has been challenging because devices often show short-circuit behavior due to poor morphologies and undesired electrical properties of the thin films. A low-temperature vapor-assisted solution process (LT-VASP) has been employed as a novel kinetically controlled gas-solid reaction film fabrication method to prepare lead-free CH3NH3SnI3 thin films. We show that the solid SnI2 substrate temperature is the key parameter in achieving perovskite films with high surface coverage and excellent uniformity. The resulting high-quality CH3NH3SnI3 films allow the successful fabrication of solar cells with drastically improved reproducibility, reaching an efficiency of 1.86%. Furthermore, our Kelvin probe studies show the VASP films have a doping level lower than that of films prepared from the conventional one-step method, effectively lowering the film conductivity. Above all, with (LT)-VASP, the short-circuit behavior often obtained from the conventional one-step-fabricated Sn-based perovskite devices has been overcome. This study facilitates the path to more successful Sn-perovskite photovoltaic research.

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